Russian Assassin Identified

      British authorities put a name and a face on the Russyan who they say was the assassin who poisoned a former Russyan spy and his daughter with a Russyan manufactured chemical called Novochuk.   The news release identified the man as a colonel in the Russyan security apparatus.
His name:   Col. Anatoliy Chepiga of the GRU.   Russyan Foreign Ministry Official Liar Maria Zakharova on Thursday dismissed the report in a  Facebook post, saying there is no proof and that the report was timed to coincide with Theresa May's speech at the UN in New York City.
      Mr. Colonel Chepiga went on state television saying that he was only a tourist interested in seeing the countryside.   Reports also say Mr. Chepiga served in Chechnya and Ukraine and was 'honored' as as a "Hero of the Russyan Federation", shades of the old days of the Soviet era when an individual was accorded the title "Hero of the Soviet Union".
       Perhaps he can parley his new found fame into another career.  Perhaps a spokesman for Nike shoes; or perhaps a pitchman for Russyan airline Aeroflot.  Or maybe even an acting career, given his past performance in the UK where he posed as a "tourist".
    Good luck, Anatoliy, wherever you end up(Gulag?)

Colonel Chepiga

Cooking School in Vladivostok

       Well, who would have thought?  Two world leaders gathering in the far, far north, to discuss the fine points of Asian cuisine.  Who arranged this "Bro-feast"?  Perhaps the geopolitical landscape is less rocky than one thinks.   So, Mr. Putin meets with Premier Xi of China to discuss the proper temperature to saute pork-filled dumplings?  Or what type of cabbage makes the best borsch: green or red or pickled?  Is your pork drug free?  What type of wine do you prefer to wash down a fine meal?  A Cabernet?  A Bordeaux?  Maybe a nice Riesling from the Rhine River Valley?
      But, maybe the two were really talking politics.  Maybe they needed to inform on policy vis-a-vis the Great Satan across the Pacific?  How do we deal with the Orange Leader?  Let's work out a mutually beneficial strategy, especially with oil.  Yes, especially oil.  OPEC is as befuddled as the rest of us.  My, my.  What a situation.
     So, the brief but important two party summit accomplished little, but it did serve notice to US State Dept. officials that the divide between the Asian super powers is more cordial than expected.  Time will tell.  Perhaps Mr. Putin is negotiating a sale of a swath of the Far, far east of the largest country in the world.  Really, it's a vast, untapped resource of a country with little capital to invest in even basic development.  It makes sense for Russya to sell off a chunk and raise a little capital, say about $450 billions.  That would buy a lot of margin.   Say if the deal was a timed purchase at 4%, Mr. Putin would have a steady income to put into infrastructure west of the Urals where Russya really lives.  Vladivostok could be kept as a window on the Pacific, of course, but the rest would not be missed by anybody.  Right now, upwards of 5 million Chinese citizens live and work in the area around Vladivostok.  They would like to own some of the land they work.
    Could happen.

Meeks Bay Restoration Project

www.fs.usda.gov/goto/ltbmu/meeksbayrestoration
       The US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Region has sent out notices to all property owners in the basin who might have an interest in the west Shore area adjacent to Meeks Bay(at highway 89).  The area affected includes Tahoma, Homewood, Meeks Bay, Rubicon Bay, and those southern properties in the vicinity of Cascade Lake properties.
    What's included in the proposals?  Here's a list to look over;

1. Aquatic Invasive Species Eradication
2. Remove the existing marina infrastructure
3. Restore Meeks lagoon in the location of the existing marina
4. Restore Meeks Creek from the SR 89 crossing to the confluence of Lake tahoe
5. Install utility infrastructure
6. Implement resource protection barriers
7. Wildlife enhancement actions
8. Construct a pier
9. Construct a boat launch
10. Reconstruct  boat trailer parking and circ. routes
11. install pedestrian connections
12. Install interpretation ops
13. Reconstruct Meeks bay campground
14. Construct Day use parking areas
15. Implement shoreline stabilization measures
16. install best management practices

     The first meeting will be held Tuesday, October 10, 2018
Beginning at 2pm, meeting at the Main Lodge Meeks Bay Resort,
7941 Emerald Bay Road(next to US FS fire station)
Meeks Bay, CA
      The list of potential actions is not comprehensive nor does it guarantee any or all the projects.
Interested parties who may be affected are encouraged to attend and provide input and ask questions related to any portion of the list or make suggestions for additions.  Given the current state of affairs at the marina, it's about time this situation is addressed by competent authority.  As locals know, nothing is ever easy or quickly accomplished in the Basin.   Given the bi-state nature of controlling authority, it's a wonder that anything gets done at all.  (see Highway 89's 5 year drainage project(s), and the Fanny Bridge highway diversion project, and the lakeside bike path extension project(underway).
      The USFS is asking for comments by October 26, 2018, which can be in various formats: written, hand delivered, and electronic.
Good luck to all citizens who may wish to comment on the project.

Book Review: Calabria: The Other Italy

      The Mayor, an Italophile extraordinaire, managed to pull off a recent visit to southern Italy, that part that is rarely visited by North Americans of any stripe.  Maybe some folks will venture to Naples; maybe go a little farther to Sorrento, or Positano.  Then, there's Pompeii which is on many lists.  But beyond that, not much interest at all unless you are a German who likes beaches and good camp sites, relatively unspoiled.
     A few years ago, an adventurous American woman school teacher decided to apply for a teaching job in Italy.  She found out that this is next to impossible unless you can obtain a special visa, rarely given.  But then, she received an offer from a private school in Locri, down south about as far as one can go.  She thought about it for a short time and then got on a train bound for the deep south, aka Calabria.
       Calabria is a mountainous region with a long coastline.  It fronts on the Ionian Sea, the Aegean Sea, and the Tyrrhenian Sea.   Much of the population lives on the coasts, especially in the city of Reggio Calabria across the strait of Messina from Sicily, not quite in the shadow of the volcano, Mt. Etna(very active today).  Author, Ms. Karen Haid, tells a lively story of her singular experience as she manuevers through the cultural landscape of an area of Italy often forgotten by the federal government in Rome.  However, Ms. Haid discovers a distinct version of Italy, a version that opens up a new understanding of Italy and its extensive history.  Layer upon layer of history is found wherever one stops to look.   Over millenia, various folks have established themselves in the province: Greeks, Carthaginians, Saracens, Romans, Spaniards, and Normans, to name a few.  All have left evidence of their occupation.
      Today, Calabria has experienced its own rebirth or refounding.  With the help of European Union funds, old facades have been repaired and rebuilt to put a new face across the landscape.  Efforts to promote business and tourism have been paying dividends.  While much more can be done, the evidence is clear that the beginning has happened.
      Ms. Haid has taken the reader on a detailed tour of the entire province, providing insights that only a foreigner can provide with fresh eyes.  She doesn't miss much, and is a sharp contrast to old guides such as the British Blue Guides of the late 20th century.
     I highly recommend this modern, intimate memoir provided by a very capable writer/journalist.
4 1/2 stars(needs a few more maps and a better foto effort).

Sierra flowers-Lavender

Lavender in meadow

Steve Bannon: International Man of ?

      Former White House advisor and Trump insider, Steve Bannon, is now going to Europe to stir up the locals with his discredited agenda of right wing topics and goals.  It was recently announced that one of two Italian leaders will join his group in Belgium for a conference on the EU and its ongoing problem with migrants and refugees.  Yestersday's Swedish elections did not turn out in the manner anticipated by doom-saying media types here and abroad.  The Swedish Democrats were only able to muster about 18% of the votes cast for their party, meaning that a coalition government will have to be formed.  The right wing party has increased its percentage of influence from 13% to almost 18%.  While an improvement in numbers, it does not indicate an abandonment of democratic traditions in this Nordic bastion of 10 million people.
     The Swedes welcomed more refugees and migrants than any other country of its size and more than many larger countries.   However many they thought they could absorb without a problem, the sudden influx of so many stirred latent fears that the Swedish culture would be torn apart.  Right wing proponents played upon this fear to tout their position that Sweden was being invaded by muslims and Middle Easterners who would form enclaves and never fit in, citing conditions in France, Germany, and the UK.  A recent uptick in gun violence with attendant increase in homicides made voters take note of these sudden alterations in the fabric of Swedish culture.
      Mr. Bannon, now held in disrepute in the USA, hopes to stir other countries to gather around an international movement to thwart efforts by various countries to become locations of welcoming to a continuing tide of refugees from war torn Middle East locations such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Turkey, and Iran.   Can Mr. Bannon gather enough support to make a difference among his followers?  Can he enlist a new wave of adherents to his xenophobia type of philosophy?  Maybe he will, but probably not.   His efforts will be closely watched by member states of the EU and the USA. 

Russya, Poison, Assassins, Putin, and History

     Well, we now have the faces of the two really ugly Russyan agents sent to the UK on a mission from the Kremlin.  Nothing new here, folks.  This has been a modern tactic found in the playbook of despots, dictators, coup plotters, kings, queens, knaves, and so -called leaders.  Some countries have been using it more than others. Recent research has shown that some entities have been making use of modern substances to employ against their enemies real or not.
      A case involving a North Korean team dispatched on a mission to assassinate the brother of North Korea's leader Kim-Un made news recently.   Two women agents were enlisted  and trained to carry out the job in Indonesia at the airport.  The target was approached from behind and the poison was rubbed into his face from a handkerchief.   He died shortly thereafter.  The 2 women were arrested and will stand trial for murder with the expected verdict: guilty.  They will then face execution.
     In the UK case, the poison employed was Novochuk, a substance manufactured in--Russya by Russyans.   It was given in a perfume bottle to the two agents who  then put it in contact with a former Russyan spy and his Russyan citizen daughter who was visiting near London.  They both survived the assassination attempt, much to the chagrin of the Kremlin.  However, two unfortunate UK citizens came in contact with the Novochuk at a nearby site.  A woman died after this exposure.
The British government released video that showed the two Russyan agents wandering around London and other sites before the attempted assassination.  After the attempt, they fled to:  RUSSYA.
They will be criminally responsible for their actions and found guilty by the courts.  However, Russyan authorities have denied their involvement and will not turn them over for prosecution.   This action by Russya will further damage an already sullied international reputation as a state-sponsored poisoner of opponents and critics of the Kremlin and her sitting leaders, whoever they happen to be.  All of this has helped to knock 20% of the value of the rubel v. the dollar.   The economy of the largest country in the world continues its slide into third world status, unimpeded by any thoughts or concerns about its international reputation.

George Papadopolous: Jailbird

     Trump campaign advisor, George Papadoplous was sentenced to 14 days in jail after being convicted of lying to the F.B.I. during their investigation into the Trump campaign.  This conviction comes after months of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigative efforts into the entire campaign of the President.   More heads will roll; this is but on of the many.

California Weather Facts: Lake Tahoe

      here we are: the height of summer.  Temperatures around the country wander up into the triple digits in some locales.  Even here in the Golden State, home of Death Valley and other deserts, temps easily reach 100+ degrees.  However, in a few other places, mostly in the Sierra, vic. Lake Tahoe, temperatures can dip below freezing.  Yes, below freezing in the middle of summer.
     A prime example: Truckee, California.  Set in a basin, generally on the east side of the east/west divide, cold air from the high peaks surrounding the town finds its way to the environs of Truckee.  The diurnal range of temperature readings can be over 40 degrees in 24 hours.  Yesterday, September 1st, the swing was 43 degrees-from 30 degrees at night to 73 degrees during the day.  Equally notable were temperatures just north, in the town of Quincy.   That town had a swing of 43 degrees but the low was only 33 degrees.  Not to be left out, Lake Tahoe(aka South Lake Tahoe) had a 40 degree swing, high to low. 
     So, among many local facts and figures, temperature swings are a common occurrence here at the Lake.
    Happy Summer-wear a jacket and keep it handy.
Source: SF Gate/ SF Chronicle

Burning Man: 2018 Update

     Did you bring a mask?  Do you have oxygen tanks in your kit?  Conditions in BlackRock Desert have deteriorated to the unbearable: dust storm No.2 has created very difficult conditions.  Not only has visibility been reduced to 1', but air quality has exploded to the :  DON"T INHALE stage.  This is an unhealthy situation for all attendees.  If you are on the playa, you better stay in your : tent, RV, submarine, Bubble, balloon, diving bell.  If Shanghai has an AQI of over 250, then Black Rock Desert is about 400+.
     Maybe the hopeful will linger and the wind/sand storm will pass.  We hope so.  We know many Tahoman residents who have made the trek this year.
Stay tuned